Attacks on police posts kill three in northern Saudi Arabia

Three people, including a policeman, have been reportedly killed in two separate gun assaults on police posts in northern Saudi Arabia.

Masked gunmen on Thursday opened fire at a police station in Al-Shamli, in northwestern Hail Province, killing two civilians, according to the official SPA agency.

The report said another gunman killed a police officer at a traffic police station in the same town about half an hour later.

It said an investigation has been launched into the shootings, without providing further details on the potential motives for the attacks.

Saudi Arabia has been facing a mounting threat from terrorist groups over the past months, with security forces being placed on high alert, especially in northern regions which borders Iraq and are close to Syria, two countries gripped by Takfiri militancy.

The terrorist group Daesh has claimed responsibility for several recent attacks across the kingdom, including one that wounded a police officer on August 24 in the Red Sea city of Jeddah. The deadliest assault on security forces, also claimed by Daesh, came on August 6, when an attacker targeted a mosque inside a police headquarters in the southern city of Abha, killing 15 people, most of them security forces.

The photo, released by the Saudi Press Agency SPA, shows the governor of Asir, Prince Faisal bin Khaled bin Abdulaziz (R) greeting a soldier (L) who was wounded in an attack in the city of Abha, Saudi Arabia, August 6, 2015. (Photo by AP)

Riyadh has been accused by several governments of lending support to the Takfiri groups waging militancy in the Middle East region, with officials in Syria saying some elements in the monarchy provide indirect support and funding for the militants fighting against the government of President Bashar al-Assad.

Terrorist activities by Daesh have also taken a toll on Saudi civilians in the east of the country. A total number of 25 people were killed in separate attacks on two Shia mosques in Saudi Arabia’s Eastern Province in late May.